Alan Pardew and Gus Poyet have called for calm ahead of Saturday's game at St
James' Park following last season's riot and the traditional tribal violence

They will stand on opposite sides of the North-East divide when Newcastle United take on Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby, but Alan Pardew and Gus Poyet are united in their view of the occasion.

Pardew described it as “mad”, Poyet preferred “mental,” but no derby in England has quite the same intensity or hostility as the North-East one.

Perhaps it is because the region is so isolated. Perhaps it is because neither club have won a major trophy since Sunderland lifted the FA Cup in 1973.

Maybe it is down to the huge importance football plays in the lives of people from two cities who have been in conflict since the English Civil War, but the North-East derby is the biggest and most important match of the season, regardless of league position.

Both Pardew and Poyet have called for calm after Newcastle fans rioted following the 3-0 defeat last season that led to 111 arrests, injuries to police officers and a police horse being punched.

Prominent supporters groups from both clubs have also urged fans not to repeat the violent disorder that has become a regular byproduct of this fixture, but there is fear their words will be lost in the heat of battle.

On one side there is Sunderland, a city that lives in Newcastle’s shadow and a club too often perceived as the poor relation, who always love bringing their more fashionable neighbours down a peg or two.

On the other, there is Newcastle, a supremely confident city and a football club who like to think of themselves as one of English football’s elite, but who have resorted to masquerading as one since Sir Bobby Robson was sacked almost a decade ago after twice qualifying for the Champions League.

It is a bitter tribal rivalry which is given its most regular and obvious means for expression by a football match, but which is rooted in history, economics and geographical location. Defeats scar managers like no other, victories are worn like a badge of honour and can shield them until the next one comes around.

“I’m conscious of what happened last season when we lost,” said Pardew, who nearly lost his job when the 3-0 home defeat to Sunderland was followed by a 6-0 hammering by Liverpool last April. “There were all sorts of disturbances in the town. As a manager I felt responsible for that. I don’t want that to happen again. The best thing we can do is try and win the match.”

Pardew knows he is vulnerable in this fixture. He has won only one derby game in his three years at the helm and has lost the last two.

To make matters worse, Pardew has lost his best player, Yohan Cabaye, to Paris St-Germain and not been allowed to replace him, while top goalscorer Loïc Rémy is suspended.

“You can’t judge us without Cabaye on Saturday, because this game is different, it’s just mad,” added Pardew. “It’s disappointing we’re going into it without Cabaye, but I still think we can win it.”

Sunderland know they are playing their rivals at a good time. Their England winger Adam Johnson said this week that Newcastle had lost “their two best players” and would be much weaker as a result. He also insisted, after two wins in a row, that Sunderland “have the upper hand”.

That may be pushing it a bit given Newcastle are eighth in the league and Sunderland have only just pulled themselves out of the relegation zone for the first time since August. But Sunderland also have Poyet on their side. The Uruguayan was once described by Robson as the “scourge” of Newcastle United so often did he score against them as a player with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. It was fitting he won his first derby as Sunderland manager as he had also knocked Newcastle out of the FA Cup twice while in charge of Brighton.

“It’s mental this game, it’s not about technical ability, it’s a game you need incredible strength to win,” said Poyet. “I just call for the supporters to behave, to enjoy the rivalry, not hate each other. It’s just a game.

“I always enjoyed playing at St James’. Newcastle fans used to love and hate me. They hated me because I scored against them, but they loved me because I think they would have liked me to play for them. Now it’s a hate-hate relationship.

“I remember that Bobby Robson said he wanted to kill me [after Poyet scored twice in Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final win in 2000] because I cut the headline out of the paper and put it in my scrapbook.

“I’ve still got it. It was special because it was him. He was an absolutely lovely man and different class.”